


Charming Family Drabbles

by Maaikek



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: F/M, Family, Family Feels, Family Fluff, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, One Shot, Romance, Short, Storybrooke (Once Upon a Time)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-03-01
Updated: 2021-03-07
Packaged: 2021-03-14 01:00:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 8,481
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29784768
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Maaikek/pseuds/Maaikek
Summary: As it says on the tin. One-shots and short stories about the Charmings. Family-centered.
Relationships: Prince Charming | David Nolan/Snow White | Mary Margaret Blanchard
Kudos: 3





	1. Chapter 1

_Story summary: Snow caught David looking at the picture of her together with Emma, the one they took when Emma had just moved in. A one-shot about parents' heartache and hope for a better future._

* * *

**1\. Confiding**

Snow caught her husband staring at the picture on the dresser, the one of her together with Emma. 'Penny for your thoughts?' she asked as she put a hand on his arm.

'This is the first picture of you two together.' He stated it matter-of-factly, but the way he looked at the image gave away the raw emotions he felt.

Snow nodded, not entirely sure what he was after. It was indeed the first picture of her and her daughter together. It was taken shortly after Emma had moved in with her. Back then, they hadn't even realized that they were mother and daughter.

David didn't look at her. Instead, his gaze was fixed on the picture. 'It shouldn't have been the first one. It should've been the umpteenth one.'

'Charming…'

'No Snow, it's not right. You should've been able to come with her. Through the wardrobe I mean. You should've been the one to raise her, the one to lead the way and the one to protect her. Everything she's been through because faith decided otherwise…' His voice broke.

Snow felt the same. Of course, she did. Her heart broke every time Emma told her a little bit about her childhood. She cried herself to sleep every time she was reminded of the moment that David took their daughter away right after she was born. Yet, there was nothing Snow could do to change something that had happened in their past. 'We had no choice,' was all she could say to him. Stepping forward, she wrapped an arm around his back and pulled him in closer. 'We didn't have a choice.'

David accepted his wife's closeness and completed the embrace by laying his head on her shoulder and he held her tight.

There was a certain vibration in the air, coming from an intense and shared pain between them. They grieved for what was so brutally taken from them - the chance to raise their daughter. They held on to each other for a long while, taking comfort in each other's presence.

When David pulled away, Snow noticed the pool of tears that had formed in his eyes and she couldn't deny being slightly taken aback by this. David wasn't usually the one to break down. He wasn't afraid to show his emotions, yet this reaction felt unnerving to her and she couldn't help wondering whether there was more behind it.

'She told me something about her childhood last night,' David replied to her unspoken question.

David and Emma had manned the sheriff's station all evening the previous night and Snow had already been in bed by the time they had come home. She swallowed back the lump in her throat and nodded for him to continue.

'It was a quiet night and I guess she went through some of her old stuff that she keeps at the station. I was too occupied with some admin work, that I didn't notice it at first, but she was crying. She didn't make a sound, but when I looked up, she sat there on her chair in the office with this stuffed dog clutched in her hands, tears running down her cheeks.' His finger trailed over Emma's face in the picture. 'I wasn't sure what to say or what to do. The last thing I wanted was for her to feel overwhelmed or threatened even if I got too close.'

Snow knew exactly what he meant. She had had more time with their daughter than David which she felt had helped in winning Emma's trust. On the other hand, she fully well realized that Emma's walls were still high up. There was a thin line between what they had accomplished with her as her parents and what would shut them out again. Figuring out what that implied was one of the hardest things to do.

Snow knew that all David had wanted to do at that moment was to hold his daughter and take away her pain. She knew that because she would've wanted to do exactly the same. Without realizing it, she had taken her husband's hand and gave it a gentle squeeze.

'She actually looked at me and beckoned me to come into the office.' He sounded surprised. 'I didn't even have to ask her, it just came out. All of it. She showed me the stuffed animal and told me that it had belonged to her best friend Evan.'

'She had a best friend?' Snow didn't want to sound as surprised as she did, but she'd always thought of Emma as a bit of a loner. That's at least what she was when she moved to Storybrooke. Hearing of her daughter having a friend made her heart fill with love.

David nodded. 'She apparently met him when they were both only seven years old and they were living in the same group home. They got along really well and spent a lot of time together. He was all she had there.' That's what she told me. He paused and looked away.

Snow could imagine her rebellious daughter hanging out more with boys than with girls as a child. She imagined her climbing trees, playing soccer, and getting in all kinds of trouble. No, Emma wouldn't have been a girl fond of playing dress-up or one for playing with dolls. That was Snow's assumption at least, she could never know for sure unless Emma told her about it. That last thought brought her back to reality. When she glanced over to David, she noticed the sorrow reflected in his eyes. 'Tell me, what happened?'

'Emma and Evan actually spent a whole year in the same group home. That was until Evan got placed and later adopted by a family nearby. Emma told me that they tried to keep seeing each other. They still went to the same school and met up whenever they could, but their completely different situations made it harder and harder for Emma especially to stay in touch. Slowly they grew apart. Evan had found his forever home and Emma…'

'Was still in the system,' Snow finished for him.

He nodded sadly. 'But that's not all.'

What he was about to tell her clearly made him emotional and she held her breath.

'About two years after Evan had moved into his forever home and Emma was placed yet again somewhere different, she received the news that... Evan got killed in a car accident when his adoptive parents drove him to football practice.'

Snow put her hand in front of her mouth and a gasp escaped her. 'No…' was all she could mutter.

David went on, his voice hoarse. 'Losing Evan, twice, the second time for good, broke her heart. It made her decide that she would never be getting close to anyone again. Because, and I'm quoting her now, everyone would always leave her.'

Besides the fact that she was astonished by the fact that Emma had trusted David enough to confide in him, Snow also unmistakenly understood what Emma had been trying to say with this story. What the underlying meaning of it was. And it all made perfect sense. 'It all started with us. Because we left her.'

He echoed her words and nodded. 'Because we left her, she started to think this way and put her walls up. We failed her Snow.' He looked down in complete defeat.

She lifted his chin with her finger and forced him to look at her. 'Yes, we did. We failed her and it's okay to admit that. But Charming, do you even realize what happened yesterday? How major it is that she let you in?'

He looked at her confused, clearly still not understanding where she was going with this.

'We're the ones who started all of this. We planted the seed in her head that everyone in her life would leave her. And that kills me David, really it does. But because we started this all, we're also the ones who can change this way of thinking around. We can and we will.' A sudden wave of confidence rushed through her. 'Don't you see? It's already happening. She let some of her walls down already when she was with me in the Enchanted Forest and now she's starting to let you in too. We're going to help her Charming. We're going to help our daughter.'

_The End_


	2. Blackout - Part 1

_A/n: The season 4 - 'Stop saying letters!' - scene cracks me up every time, so I decided to throw in another power outage for the Charmings to deal with._

* * *

_**Blackout - Part 1/2** _

'Mom! The microwave doesn't work!'

'Quiet Henry, your mom's still asleep,' Snow's hushing voice replied. 'You know it's her day off today. Just heat up some milk in a pan or eat your cereal with cold milk for once.'

Well, Mom _had been_ sleeping. With all the chattering and noises coming from downstairs, they could hardly expect her to be asleep anymore. Emma forced open her eyes and squinted up at the bedside clock. It was one of those electricity-powered alarm clocks and she was surprised to see it came up black, the red numbers missing. 'Argh,' she sighed. Was it one of those days?

It was.

When she checked her phone, she noticed ten missed calls and just as many messages. The concerned neighborhood brigade was already up hours before her, she sarcastically thought to herself. With a growing sense of foreboding, she rolled out of bed and made her way downstairs. There, she took a second to take in the situation.

Henry was sitting at the kitchen counter, picking reluctantly at his Lucky Charms.

David was wearing his jacket, seemingly ready for the day. He gave her a small smile. 'Morning Em.'

Her mother was on the phone talking to someone.

Emma joined her son in the kitchen. 'What's going on?' she asked to no one in particular. She wiped some of the sleep from her eyes.

'We think it's a power cut,' her father explained.

'No shit, Sherlock,' she countered, immediately corrected by her mother who was still on the phone but clearly overseeing and overhearing everything.

'Emma, language!'

She raised her hands in defense. 'Right, well I guess it seems obvious that there's a power cut. I just meant to ask, what's the reason for it?'

Her father shook his head and zipped up his jacket. 'We don't know, but I'm going to find…'

He was interrupted by the loud voice of Leroy coming from Mary-Margaret's phone. ' _What are you gonna do about it, Sister? My TV's not working, just when I wanted to watch the morning news. And you know how I get without my morning coffee!'_

Snow pulled the phone away from her ear and rolled her eyes. 'Leroy, you know that Neal and I have dealt with this before and we can do it again.'

' _Neal? That's just a baby, how's he gonna help?'_

Emma noticed how much her mother was trying her best to stay calm, but she failed in the most hilarious way. Mindlessly she grabbed a handful of cereal from the pack on the counter, put it in her mouth, and observed the situation. This was just her kind of entertainment playing out right in front of her.

'We've been through this before. Just buy yourself a french press and some ground coffee and boil water the old-fashioned way: ON A FIRE!' The latter came out as a shout. With that, she hung up and wiped a hand over her face. 'Right, where were we?'

'Way to go Mom,' Emma laughed.

Henry's mouth almost fell to the counter at the unexpected outburst of his grandmother.

'Well, I'm sorry, but I'm done with the dwarfs thinking their world collapses if their TVs, DVDs, CDs, and all their other letter-related appliances stop working. Leroy's the fourth one calling. I bet the remaining three think twice now before they bother me with this nonsense.' Snow let out a frustrated breath.

Emma had no idea what this was about, having been occupied otherwise during the previous power cut. 'Right… well I'm proud of you is all I was trying to say.'

'You are?' her mother sounded sincerely surprised by the compliment and she raised a brow.

'Yes, I am. It's great you dare to say ''no'' more.' Emma meant it. She had gotten to know her mom as someone who was always trying to help everyone, even if that was at her own expense.

David winked at her knowingly and placed a kiss on top of Snow's head who was still too stunned to say anything. 'Either way, we'll need to check this out and find out what the cause is. I'm heading over to the power station. Emma, can I ask you to answer the phone when people have questions? Just say that we're on it.'

Staying at home answering phone calls wasn't exactly what she had in mind as sheriff of this town. 'You don't want me to come with you, I can help?' she therefore asked.

'It's your day off, I don't want to take away any of your time with Henry today,' he replied.

Seeing the anticipating look on Henry's face, she gave in. 'Sure,' she replied and smiled at her son.

Now it was Snow's turn to offer help. 'You really don't want me to come along? I fixed the generator last time we had an outage.' Unlike Emma, she sounded less eager to come along, rather more dutifully.

Her husband flashed her a smile. 'Don't worry. You stay here with the kids.'

'Hey!' Emma sent him a warning look but saw the humor in it.

'I'll be back soon,' he promised them and pressed a kiss on Snow's lips.

Quickly, Emma averted her gaze. 'Right, a french press, ground coffee, and boiling water on a fire?' she joked after David had left.

'Luckily for you, our stove is powered by gas, so you can forget the fire part,' Snow laughed now too.

'You want one?' Emma asked her as she held up two mugs.

Her mother was now standing over Neal's crib. 'Yes, please! Your little brother has been up most of the night, haven't you sweetheart?' she cooed. 'Which meant mom and dad have been up most of the night too.'

'Kids...' Henry muttered under his breath and he shook his head while he finished his breakfast.

That comment had both Emma and Snow cracking up.

'Yeah, nothing you should have to be worrying about any time soon, _kid,'_ Emma said with emphasis on the _kid_ -part.

Then she opened the fridge, followed by the freezer compartment. She stared at its content for a while, considered her options, and cast a sideways glance to her mother, who was still busy settling down a restless Neal. She took one last look through the fridge and struck.

'Emma Ruth Swan, put that back immediately.'

How did she always do that? How did her mom seem to have eyes and ears everywhere?

Emma sent her an innocent look. 'Now the power is off, the ice cream will melt anyway. That would be such a waste!' She was still holding onto the Ben & Jerry's peanut butter cup flavored ice cream tub, hoping for her mother to cave under the situation.

'I don't care. It's not even eight AM, Emma. Just have some cereal for breakfast.' She took Neal from his crib and rocked him in her arms. 'By the way, the water for our coffee is boiling,' she said with an air of finality, nodding at the pan on the stove.

'Ugh,' Emma muttered and she put back the ice cream where she had found it before making her way over to the stove to make their coffees.

* * *

Snow and Emma had breakfast together while Henry took a shower.

'What do you think it could be, the power outage I mean?' Emma asked with her mouth full of fruit loops.

This time Snow refrained from making a comment judging her daughter's table manners. Instead, she simply shrugged. 'I don't know, but to be honest, I'm too tired to think about it. There's no sign of an outside threat, so I'm not too worried.'

Right at that moment, Emma's phone rang and she checked who it was. She hadn't exactly been picking up the phone each time it rang as she'd promised. Yet, this time, caller ID made her decide otherwise. 'Hey, dad.'

' _Emma, hi. I tried calling your mom earlier, but I think her phone battery died?_ '

Emma grabbed her mother's phone from the counter and pressed a button. 'Yep, dead as a doornail.'

' _Okay, well I've got some good news and I've got some bad news.'_ He didn't wait for a reply. ' _The good news is that we've seemed to have found the culprit that has caused the blackout. Without getting too technical, something is broken inside the generator. Nothing magical, just an old part which is in need of a replacement.'_

She didn't let him finish. 'So, can you fix it?'

' _We can. However, we need a certain spare part, which is difficult to get a hold of apparently. Michael from Marine Garage will try to get it for us, but it will take another good few hours at least, maybe even until the end of the day before the power will be back on.'_

She sighed melodramatically. 'Well, that means that the citizens of Storybrooke will have to revert to their old way of living for the time being, I guess.' She turned her head to send her mother a cheeky smile. 'The other citizens I mean,' she continued. 'Not modern-day-world me. I wouldn't have a clue how to entertain myself without TV, CDs, DVDs…' She grinned even wider at Snow who looked like she could slap her in the face right there and then.

She heard David laughing out loud at the other end. ' _I'm sure you'll survive. Say hi to your mom for me, will you? I'll be back home in about half an hour.'_

'Sure,' she retorted.

' _Bye Emma. Love you.'_

'Yeah, alright, see you later.' Quickly she put down the phone and relayed to Snow what her father had told her.

Henry joined them not too much later. 'Did you hear from Gramps already, can they turn the electricity back on?'

Emma gave him the short version. 'They can, but probably not until tonight.' When she saw the disappointed look in his eyes, she tilted her head slightly to the right. 'I'm sorry kid. That means no Mario Kart competition today.'

For the past two weekends, they had played the videogame together. Henry had won the first time, and Emma the week after. This week would've been the grand finale where they'd find out who won the three-week tournament.

'But,' and now she looked at Snow. 'Now we know that the power won't be back on until tonight, can we have that ice cream?'

'Please?' added Henry, his eyes full-on Puss in Boots begging.

'You two are unbearable, you know that?' Snow laughed but nodded.

'Yes, but you still love us,' Emma retorted and quickly headed over to the freezer to get the Ben & Jerry's. Then she took out three spoons from the drawer and gave one to Henry and one to Snow.

'How did you…'

'I saw how you were eyeing this ice cream earlier, you know you want it…' Emma cooed in a voice she usually saved for her baby brother.

Snow hit Emma's spoon playfully with the one she was just given. 'Oh come on then.'

Just as they were halfway through the tub, David came in.

His eyes widened when he saw the trio eating the ice cream. 'You caved?' he asked Snow, knowing that this definitely hadn't been her idea.

She scooched over and gestured to the empty seat next to her. 'Oh shut up and get yourself a spoon too.'

Emma's lips curled up into a smile and she teasingly poked Snow's side with an elbow. 'I feel like my long-term presence here's starting to pay off. I've the right influence on you two.'

'Enjoy while it lasts little lady. As soon as your sweet baby brother allows me some sleep, all will be different,' her mother assured her. Then her gaze shifted to her husband. 'Is there anything else we need to do for the town until the power's back on?'

David shook his head and put his hand around his wife's shoulder. 'No, all's been taken care of. All the important departments, the hospital, the fire station - they all have their own backup generators that will last until the power's back on. I've asked a few people to go around to inform everybody, so those phone calls you've been receiving all morning should stop soon too,' he now spoke to Emma.

'Good, because I haven't actually been answering most of them,' she admitted.

'Oh, Emma…' David sighed, but he couldn't suppress a snicker.

'What?' she countered, 'it's not that anyone has anything important to say. Otherwise, they would've called you on the sheriff's station's line.' That one was directed to his cellphone. 'Like you heard this morning when Leroy called Mom, they're all just annoyed that they can't have their TVs or computers.'

'Speaking of which…' Henry interjected. 'How are we going to spend all day today without electricity?'

Snow sighed and put her hand in front of her face. 'Not you too… I had such high hopes for you,' she laughed.

'But seriously, Mom, Dad. How did you spend all those days without electricity in the Enchanted Forest? How did you entertain yourselves?' Emma asked. When she realized her mistake, she flashed them both a warning look. 'No, I didn't mean _that_ kind of entertainment.' She felt slightly grossed out imagining her parents...

Henry looked at her confused and Snow and David both couldn't stop laughing.

'Well, we organized balls of course,' Snow began when she'd composed herself.

David nodded. 'And we told stories to each other, played games, wrote letters to each other.' He looked dreamingly over to Snow.

Emma rolled her eyes.

'What kind of games would you play?' Henry wasn't in the least disturbed by the lovey-dovey action on his grandparents' part.

David seemed to think about that for a moment. 'We would play a game very similar to this world's chess. Oh, and a card game that I think comes closest to Go Fish. It's called Stone Fall.'

Henry's eyes started to twinkle. 'Can you teach us this Stone Fall game?' He already got on his feet to get the deck of cards his grandparents kept in the junk drawer.

Neal started to fuss and had them all look in the direction of his crib.

'I'm on it,' Emma offered when she noticed the exhausted look on her parents' faces. In all fairness, she loved spending some time with her little brother and she didn't need an excuse.

'Shall we wait for you?' Henry asked in passing.

She ruffled his hair and told him that they could start without her.

'Hey, little bro,' she whispered hovering above the baby's crib. 'Are you a little fussy today?'

Neal's crying subdued to a little whimper and he stared at her with his big eyes.

The reason for his unhappy behavior was immediately clear. 'You always safe these ones for me, don't you?' She sniffed once and made a funny face. 'Blegh, you stinky one. Let's fix that.' She picked him up from his crib and took him to the changing table in the bathroom.

'Do you need any help?' David asked when she walked past them, baby Neal in her arms.

'No thanks, I got it,' she assured him, and then she turned her attention back to her brother. 'Your sister is a pro by now, isn't she?'

The infant reached up and touched her face.

She pouted her lips and blew on his little hand as soon as his fingers touched her mouth.

That resulted in him making the cutest little giggling noises.

'You like that, huh?' She carefully laid him down on the changing table and blew some more kisses on his belly after she'd removed his bodysuit.

His quiet giggles turned into a full-blown laugh.

Emma smiled, loving this private time with her brother. Quickly, while he was still in such a good mood, she cleaned him up and changed his diaper. 'You're all done, big man!' she told him afterward and picked him up from the changing table. 'Ready to play a game of cards with us?'

Neal was still happily babbling away when they joined the rest of the family at the dining table.

'You're letting your sister in on all of your secrets now?' Snow cooed.

'He told me he was eager to play along with the game,' Emma said when she gently handed over her brother to their mother. She brushed her thumb along the infant's cheek and he caught it with his tiny hand. She moved closer to her mother so that it was easier for her to sit while Neal was holding on to her finger.

Snow looked at them both and sent Emma a loving smile which she happily returned. She too was pleased with how everything had turned out with their little, slightly unconventional, but happy family.

'So dad, explain to us the rules of this Go Fish, Enchanted Forest Edition. You're looking at the winning team over here.' She raised up her hand a little, the one Neal was clinging onto.

Henry straightened his back in response. 'We'll see about that Mom. I don't think you and Neal can beat me.'

David winked at his grandson and started to explain the rules to Emma. He did so by playing one round against Henry and Snow while showing her his cards.

Just when they finished the practice round, Neal let go of Emma's finger.

'Right on time bro. I need two hands to make us winners.' She intertwined her fingers and stretched them out. The cracking sound that movement made gave her a few angry looks from around the table. Only Neal let out a giggle and she smiled back at him. 'Bring it on guys, baby Bro and I are ready!'

Even though the Stone Fall was just an innocent card game, it quickly developed into a friendly, but intense clash between the Charmings.

'You're cheating!' Emma yelled when she was certain she saw her father looking in her cards. 'Mom' he's cheating!' She knew she sounded childish, but she didn't care. She came here to win and anyone who got in her way needed to be punished.

'Maybe if you paid attention to other things, you would've realized that I've got a set of aces in my hand which I'm now going to use to beat your kings,' her mother replied with a straight face. 'And that's me done,' she beamed when she put the final cards she had in her hand on the table.

'No!' Emma and Henry bristled at the same time.

'Rematch!' David added and his daughter and grandson both agreed by nodding heavily.

Snow let out a laugh. 'You guys are just sore losers.' It didn't take long however for her to lose the next round and the round after that. Her expression turned more sour with each loss.

'You were saying darling?' David mocked when he tallied another win for himself on the self-made scorecard.

The championship as they'd called it finished after a final heated round that was played between Snow and Emma. It was a close call but a definite win for Emma.

'We won Neal! I told you we would!' She took his little hand and raised it up in a cheering motion. 'Go us!' Her eyes narrowed when he looked at her uninterested and fell asleep.

'Well, at least we have one member in the family who _isn't_ competitive,' David laughed.

* * *

_End of part 1._


	3. Blackout - Part 2

_**Blackout - Part 2/2** _

'I'm starving,' Emma exclaimed. She stretched out her body and rubbed her belly for effect.

They had played the card game for quite a few hours and it had come to noon before any of the Charmings had realized.

Although Snow didn't reply to her daughter directly, she glanced outside and turned back to face her family. 'It's a beautiful day today, let's make good use of it. Who's in for a picnic at the lake?' Her excited and anticipating look was met with her daughter's suspicious eyes. 'What is it, Emma?'

'Well, it's just that… I mean, the whole idea of having to make the sandwiches, packing everything, driving all the way down there... It takes ages. Can't we just have lunch here?' She noticed the whiny tone in her voice but didn’t care.

David laughed and shook his head. 'You asked us how we spent our free time back in the Enchanted Forest. Well, having picnics in the woods or on the lakeside was one of the activities we often splashed out on.' He sent Emma a mocking, pleading look. 'Come on Em, it will be fun.'

'Yes Mom, come on! Maybe Gramps can improve our sword-fighting skills or Grams can teach us some more about archery while we're there? We could even take a swim in the lake!'

Henry's infectious enthusiasm was even too much for a stubborn Emma to take. Besides, it was three against one and there was no way she could change three stubborn minds. Hesitantly she let her gaze drift to the window. It was in fact a beautiful Summer's day and those were rare in Maine. And there were none of the usual threats that required their immediate attention, so they probably should take this opportunity. 'Hm, alright then,' she muttered finally. 'But at least can we hurry up and get this show on the road?'

Her mother beat her to it and handed her a large basket that was filled with plastic plates, cups, and cutlery. 'Start filling this up with food from the fridge you think hasn't expired yet. I'll go make sure to pack everything for Neal.'

'I'll help you,' Henry offered and handed Emma some bread and spreads.

'Thanks, kid.'

He held up the fruit basket. 'Are we going to need to bring these grapes and oranges as well?'

'No!'

'Yes!'

Both Emma and David spoke at the same time, David obviously in favor of the suggestion, while Emma was against bringing anything that was too healthy in her humble opinion.

'I've a separate bag for you where you can put the fruit in,' David told Henry, ignoring Emma's pout. He handed the canvas bag to Henry and then made his way over to the closet in the living room to grab some picnic blankets.

'Found some left-over pizza slices too!' Henry exclaimed, the sound of his voice slightly muffled as his head was almost completely hidden in the large fridge.

She was quick enough to move the basket towards him. 'Bag it!'

They packed another few food and drink items until the basket was full to the brim. Emma took it from the counter and walked over to the front door, impatiently tapping her foot as she waited in the doorway. Everything always took longer now her parents had a baby. 'Come on guys, the lake is waiting for us!'

Her mother still ran around from one room to the next, picking up random items she believed were essential for this little trip. 'Does anyone know where Chusi is?'

Emma could barely refrain from rolling her eyes. 'Baby bro already has got his stuffed bunny Mom, I'm sure he can do one afternoon without his stuffed dragon.'

When she had given Neal the plush toy a couple of months ago, he had pointed to it, put up his biggest grin, and had called out 'Chusi!' That's how it officially became the toy's name.

David was about to take Neal's diaper bag from the table to put it into the holding compartment of the stroller when Snow jerked it from his hands and checked the contents. He shot his daughter an apologetic look before turning his attention back to his wife. 'Everything's in here, I've checked and I've double-checked.'

'Mom, are you serious? We've been through the most dramatic crises before without any preparation whatsoever and now you're taking forever when we're only going to be out for a couple of hours.'

Snow's hand froze mid-way in the air and she put the spare set of baby clothes she was holding back into the bag. 'I'm in overprotective-mom-mode, aren't I?'

'Yes!' they all wholeheartedly agreed, and a loud cacophony of laughter emerged.

* * *

They decided to take both David's and Emma's car, it being too cramped with everyone plus luggage crammed into one car.

Henry had decided to join his mother in the yellow bug and together they drove through the woods, the lake being right in the middle of it.

'Today's a good day,' he sighed as he looked outside.

A warm, fuzzy feeling went through Emma at his words. Briefly, she looked sideways and put a hand on his shoulder. 'It is kid, it really is.'

She couldn't remember the last time that they had such a relaxing day to spend with their family. There was always some sort of crisis that came in their way. This morning, she had been worried that it would become one of these days, but it turned out completely different. The power cut had actually given them the opportunity to take a step back from everything and take things slow.

'We're here!' her son exclaimed when the trees suddenly disappeared and a large lake loomed up.

Emma parked her car next to her parents' and helped them unload the truck. Neal's face lit up when she took him from his car seat and lifted him up in the air. 'Hi again, squirt.'

'Ems!' he cried out excitedly as he was flying through the air.

Literally, everyone stopped in their tracks and Emma held Neal perfectly still in front of her. 'What did you say, baby bro? What did you call me?'

'Ems, Ems, Ems!' he cried out again.

Emma was too much in shock to reply and she shot a quick look to her mother who stood there with her hand in front of her mouth.

Besides ''Chusi,'' Neal had never spoken a word. He hadn't even ever said ''Mommy'' or ''Daddy'' before, so him calling his sister ''Ems'' came as a big surprise to everyone.

She let out the breath that she didn't realize she was holding and curled her lips up into a big grin. 'Yes squirt, you're totally right. I'm your sister Ems.' She beamed, completely overjoyed with what just had happened.

Their father was the next one to come back into motion as he walked over to them and pressed a kiss to both of their heads. 'Ems and Neal, I'm so proud of you both,' he whispered.

Emma allowed herself to lean in a bit and sent him a grateful look.

Baby Neal giggled and held up his chubby arms to reach for his father who took him from Emma.

That gave the blonde some space to grab the picnic basket and blanket from her parents' car. 'Do we have everything?' she asked and when her parents nodded in agreement, she closed the car door.

Snow finished setting up the stroller and stowed away the diaper bag.

David then installed Neal in his seat and pushed the stroller towards the beach that stretched alongside the lake. He took the long way around so that the wheels of the stroller wouldn't get stuck in the soft sand.

Emma smiled at Henry who was carrying his swimming bag and two wooden swords and now ran up to his granddad.

She looked up when she felt Snow's hand slipping into hers. 'Hey, you okay?' she asked, slightly worried that something was wrong. Her mother hadn't said much since they arrived. 'If this is about Neal calling me ''Ems'' it's not because he likes me more or… or, I mean...'

'No, Emma. It's nothing like that,' she retorted softly and she sent a smile into her daughter's direction. 'I couldn't be prouder of him. Of you. No, I was actually just thinking about how lucky I am with you and Neal. With David and Henry. With our family.' She let her sentence hang between them before she continued. 'I mean, just before you were born I had _hoped_ that one day we would be reunited and be able to continue our lives together, as a family. But at no point we were given any guarantees and we only did what we thought was best.'

'This time hope was enough,' Emma assured her and she gently squeezed her hand. 'It all worked out in the end.' As a little girl, she could never have imagined being able to meet her parents, let alone being reunited with them, getting the cutest baby brother and the most amazing son to boot. Although she still struggled with opening up about her feelings, she was glad that her mother picked this particular moment to have a heart-to-heart with her. It felt… right. Not intrusive or too much at all.

Snow came to a sudden halt. She turned around to face her and took both of her hands this time. 'I'm so proud of you Emma. You're the best mother to Henry, the best sister to Neal and the best daughter your father and I could wish for. Never let anyone tell you otherwise.' She wiped away a tear that Emma hadn't noticed running down her cheek.

It was Emma though who pulled her mother into a hug. 'Thanks, Mom.' She laughed slightly embarrassed. 'I'm not good at this stuff.'

Snow held her tight. 'That's okay sweetheart. That's more than okay.'

'What took you guys so long?' Henry asked impatiently when Snow and Emma joined the rest of the family.

Snow opened her mouth to reply, but Emma beat her to it. 'Your grandmother had forgotten Chusi, so we had to go back to the car to get it.' She quickly took the plush toy from her bag and handed it to Neal, who raised up his arms enthusiastically.

'Chusi, Chusi!' he cooed.

'Here you go squirt.'

'Ems!' he giggled as he looked up to her from the picnic blanket. He seemed to enjoy the fact that he could call his sister by her name just as much as the rest of the family did and he repeated it a few times.

Emma laughed and felt her mother squeezing her arm softly. 'Right, let's eat. I'm officially starving!' She joined her father, son, and brother on the picnic blanket and opened the basket with food.

'Weren't you already starving when we were still at the apartment?' her dad asked mockingly.

His daughter was quick to reply. 'What's the superlative of starving?'

'I don't think there's such a thing, or perhaps it's _drama queen_?'

She pushed teasingly against his shoulder. 'Shut up dad.'

'Emma, language!' This time Emma could see the twinkle in her mother's eyes.

* * *

They enjoyed their assembled lunch in relative silence, Neal's happy babbling the only thing breaking it.

Emma was keeping him entertained by pulling silly faces and she and Henry shared most of the snacks they'd brought with them. She noticed her parents looking at them full of pride and felt her heart swell in return. This was how it felt to be wanted, to be loved. She sent them a smile, her way of letting them know how grateful she was.

As time passed, more and more people they knew gathered on the little beach and came over to them for a chat or waved from the distance.

'Right, may I challenge you to a duel, My Lord?' David asked Henry when they had finished eating. He bowed in front of his grandson and offered him one of the two wooden swords.

'Gladly,' Henry grinned as he took on the challenge. He got up and caught the sword. 'En garde.'

The battle between grandfather and grandson took off.

Emma noticed how fluently Henry already moved with the sword in his hand. Both charging and deflecting his grandfather's attacks seemed to come naturally to him, as his arm and body moved swiftly from one position to the next. Of course, David didn't go full-out on Henry, but Emma noticed the awe in his eyes too, indicating that he was impressed with his grandson's performance.

'You're doing great Henry!' Snow yelled out encouragingly.

That was the moment of distraction David seemed to have anticipated, as he charged and hit Henry's sword with his own, throwing it to the side in the process. He was quick enough to make use of that unguarded moment and made a lateral move with his sword, gently hitting Henry in the side. 'Lesson number one, focus on the duel and the duel only. Never let yourself get distracted by anything!'

Henry showed a fake pout and laughed. 'I'll get there Gramps. Soon I'll be able to defeat you.'

'I'm sure you will, you're a natural.'

A beaming Henry joined the others and was handed a glass of soda by Emma.

'Great job kid.'

'Thanks, Mom. Soon enough I'll be able to protect you.'

She swiftly moved her head to the left to look at him. 'You know that that's not something you've to do right? That's not why you take these classes with David. They're just for fun.'

He sent her a questioning look. 'But why should it be that way? I mean, I'm better than you at sword fighting. I can fight off, or at least help you fight off the bad guys.'

She shook her head and laid her hands on his shoulders. Her eyes were fixed on his as she wanted him to really hear what she had to say. 'Because I'm your Mom, Henry. I'm the one who protects _you_. Not the other way around. It's my job and not just that, it's because I want it too.'

He gave her an uncertain nod.

She pulled him into a hug. 'You're a fantastic kid Henry, I love you.'

'I love you too Mom.'

The beeping sound of David's phone interrupted the moment.

'It's from Michael. They found the spare part sooner than expected and fixed the generator. The power's back on.'

'That's wonderful news,' Snow chimed in.

'Does that mean that we need to go home now? Do you guys need to get back to work?' Henry looked at his grandfather and mother.

'I had the day off anyway, remember?' Emma assured him.

'Besides,' David added, 'the day isn't over yet and this little lake trip isn't either.'

Henry sighed. 'Good, because I don't wanna go home yet.'

Neal was sitting upright, with his back against his mother, and was playing with the sand in front of him. When he tried to grab a handful to put it into his mouth, Snow was right there to stop him from eating it.

Taking in the sight, it gave Emma an idea. 'Shall we create you your very own sandcastle, baby bro?' She looked over to Henry. 'Care helping us to build your uncle a new sand residence?'

And that's how the next part of the afternoon was spent building a giant sandcastle. They used the empty food containers - which they cleaned first in the lake - to create the perfect-sized building blocks. They used tiny stones and pebbles to decorate the castle.

They let Neal 'help', but that ended up mostly him hitting the sand blocks so hard that they crumbled under his touch.

'We need to add some water to the sand, to make it stick together better,' David suggested.

'I'm on it,' Henry declared and he went over to the lake to fill a container with water which he brought back to his family.

'Perfect. Now slowly drip some of the water over the sand, not too much!' he warned his grandson when a full splash of water landed on one of the building blocks. 'We only need a little bit, or we'll get mud instead of construction material.'

While Emma was working on digging a hole to create the moat that surrounded the castle, Snow was decorating the tower with shiny cobblestones.

'Look Neal how pretty this one is.' She held up a pink, shiny one that her son immediately took from her.

'Ems, Ems! Ems!' he called out to get his sister's attention.

'What have you got there, squirt?'

He held it out to her, but quickly closed his little hand again and pulled back.

'Let's put that stone on our tower together, shall we?' She carefully pried open his little fingers, resulting in a massive scream coming from his little body. 'Okay, okay, alright, you can have it. Don't worry, I won't take it from you,' she laughed as she let go of his hand.

Neal grasped the stone, like he was holding onto it for dear life, and looked at her with fire in his eyes.

'Oh, now you've done it, Emma,' Snow laughed. 'It's passed his nap time and you're the scapegoat.'

Neal's crying swelled. He was fighting sleep, not wanting to miss anything. Frustrated, he took his stuffed dragon from the blanket next to him.

'It's alright, baby bro, you can go to sleep now. We'll watch your castle for you,' Emma cooed, trying to settle him down. She pulled funny faces at him, but he wasn't having any of it.

In fact, he struggled to get out of his mother's hold and lifted up his toy. When Snow didn't let him go quickly enough, he screamed and threw Chusi against the sandcastle.

As soon as the toy hit the castle, the top of one of the towers broke away from the rest and collapsed.

'Great, a dragon attack on our castle. Just what we need,' David commented with a stale expression on his face.

The others burst out into laughter, except for Neal who was still upset.

Emma took Chusi from his precarious position underneath the remnants of the tower and shook off the sand from his body. She put it in front of the castle and pointed to it. 'Look Neal, Chusi is protecting the castle from invaders. He wants you to go to sleep, while he'll stay on guard.'

The baby was focused on the scene playing out in front of him and seemed to doze off, but not yet entirely. His eyes shot open when one of the town's people walked by and greeted the family.

Snow rocked her son in her arms, making sure that he was positioned in a way that he could still see his sister and the stuffed animal.

Emma figured she needed to change tactics. Storytime, that usually worked. 'Have I ever told you the story of how Chusi protected Neal's castle?' She made up a story of how a tiny dragon learned how to use his destructive firepower for good and saved the people of his land from a dark curse.

Neal listened to her breathlessly, not once averting his gaze.

And not only the youngest member of the family but also his parents and uncle listened to her story in awe.

Halfway into the story, sleep took the upper hand. Neal's eyes drooped and he blinked a few times before he eventually dozed off.

Now with her brother asleep, Emma suddenly felt very conscious and paused midway through a scene telling the story of how Cushi was caught up by an evil sorcerer and had to come up with a plan to escape.

'Why do you stop? I want to know what happens next,' Henry exclaimed.

She made a dismissive gesture with her hand. 'It was just a silly story to get Neal to sleep. Mission accomplished, so…'

David took Neal's blanket from the stroller and draped it over his sleeping son who was still lying in Snow's arms. 'It's beautiful Emma, I'd love to hear what happens next.'

'You're a great storyteller,' her mother agreed.

'Ha, well, if my sheriff's career doesn't work out I can always become a writer,' she scoffed. When her ironic comment was met with three sets of expecting stares she took a deep breath. 'Right, where were we?'

* * *

They spent the rest of the afternoon telling stories to each other, paddling the lake, and finishing the rest of their snacks. Emma had made sure that they had enough to last them the rest of the day. According to Snow, however, it was enough to last them the rest of the week.

By the end of the afternoon, Henry joined some of his class members, who were at the lake with their own families, for a game of soccer. At first, he had kindly declined when Spencer had invited him to join in, but when Emma, David, and Snow all had told him to go, he caved.

Emma couldn't help but see this as a small victory on her son's side. Although he got along pretty well with some of his class members, it wasn't like he saw a lot of them outside of school. What it boiled down to was that he didn't have many friends of his own age and that fact reminded her of her own childhood. Seeing him having fun with other teenagers like any other kid was a change she welcomed with open arms.

Emma was sitting in between her parents and was holding Neal as they all watched Henry playing soccer with his friends.

'He's having a good time, isn't he?'

A smile of relief brightened her face at her mother's observation. 'He is. I love seeing him like this. Happy, you know?'

Snow sent her a knowing smile. 'Yes, it's great seeing him so relaxed and carefree playing with other kids.'

'Exactly as it should be,' Emma agreed with mixed feelings.

Snow used her free hand to wrap it around her daughter's lower back.

David weaved his fingers through her blonde locks and cradled the back of her head as she rested it on his shoulder.

That's how they sat there for a while, taking in the moment. One incredibly significant to them.

It wasn't long after, that the sun started to set giving the sky above the lake a beautiful pink- and orange glow.

Emma lifted up her head from her father's shoulder and glanced from one parent to the other. 'Dinner at Granny's?'

* * *

_The end._


End file.
